(01-29-2016, 01:45 AM)danfromnj Wrote: Taken as a whole though, Letters seems just a little tired and directionless. While it has some real moments, and will doubtless be enlivened by TSO’s touring son et lumière, it isn’t The Christmas Attic or even Night Castle. The band’s formula probably still has legs and an exciting future but here, classical composers aside, their compositions and (brilliantly performed) arrangements do sound rather last century.

It leaves a lot to be desired. We all knew a stand alone album was eventually coming. Hopefully seeing feedback from fans they stick to the status quo and continue to make rock operas. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

(02-02-2016, 11:38 PM)James1 Wrote: It leaves a lot to be desired. We all knew a stand alone album was eventually coming. Hopefully seeing feedback from fans they stick to the status quo and continue to make rock operas. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

The problem here was not a standalone album at all though. Even though Night Castle has a story to it, I've largely ignored it and really feel like the album has a standalone feel to it just like Letters. The problem is that Letters is really lazy. I mean it is so lazy it's ridiculous. Paul O'Neill claims to write and write and write and that's why it takes him so long to get the Orchestra's new material out. But two of the songs on Letters were written years ago, "Who I Am" in 2011 and "Stay" by Savatage in 1997. And also, the two "different" versions of "Forget About the Blame". If they were at least two different arrangements it would've been nice. Like one electric and the other strictly acoustic. But instead they are both EXACTLY the same. You've just got Robin Borneman on one end and Lzzy Hale on the other.

If you guys really want my opinion, I think "Letters" was a distraction for the most part. A way to get the fans to shut up. I doubt Letters was much of a "dream" venture for O'Neill or Oliva so they just put something out that was more on the expendable side so they could have more time to work on the ones that are taking longer like Gutter Ballet or Romanov. Apparently Romanov they've been working on since right after The Lost Christmas Eve.

(11-14-2015, 05:57 AM)danfromnj Wrote: I have been reading reviews on Facebook and elsewhere and opinions vary on this album. The common thread I am seeing from most folks is "underwhelmed" or "disappointed".

This was the first review I have seen from a news source (Omaha World-Herald), and what I think is a pretty fair review:

The prog-rock band rehearse Christmas favorites for weeks at the Mid-America Center and then kick off their tour there, as they will Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. (Tickets available through Ticketmaster.)

But for the first time in years, the band has a new album. Though “Letters From the Labyrinth” is another prog-rock record, this one isn’t quite like the others.

It’s not a Christmas album, and it doesn’t have a unifying story that ties the entire album together. Instead, it’s a collection of disparate songs about banking, humanity, bullying and the Berlin Wall.

It’s a smattering of ideas that don’t really stick, but we came here for the orchestral heavy metal: complicated melodies, guitar solos and intertwining string arrangements.

It’s amazing and technical playing that’s sure to impress any fan of precise progressive rock. But it’s also a little tedious. All those ever-present solos and precise melodies kind of blend together song after song.

And I question why studio recordings would have so many synthesizers replicating strings and grand pianos when surely, with this band as successful as it is, they could have used real musicians. According to the liner notes, they did, but it’s hard to pick out the real players from the synthesized sections.

I’m most entertained by “Mountain Labyrinth,” which seems like perfect music to play during an action movie battle or as the background during a Dungeons & Dragons session.

“What the Night Conceives” at least has some aggressive playing, and vocalist Kayla Reeves delivers a solid performance.

The best performance on the record comes from Halestorm lead singer Lzzy Hale, who sings on a version of “Forget About the Blame.” Unfortunately, her talents are wasted on an extremely repetitive metal ballad.

Your enjoyment of this album will probably depend on your overall enjoyment of the band in general. If you dig their rock opera style and hair metal music, you’ll be into this. But don’t buy this looking for another Christmas favorite.

What say you?

Very disappointed! This was the best they could do after 6 years? I like some of the album: the two choir songs and all the instrumentals. All the vocals are very weak. Why did Jennifer and Adrienne have to be brought back? Georgia and Chloe could have handled those two songs. Why did they have to go outside the production team to do a cover of Forget About The Blame AND put the Lzzy Hale version on too? A waste of two tracks. TSO had nothing else in he vault?

(01-10-2017, 04:56 AM)69RoadRunner Wrote: I don't think Jennifer and Adrenne were "brought back". I think their songs have just been sitting around for years after they were recorded.

If Paul had Georgia and Chloe on them, it would take another 8 years of finessing the songs before they were released.

That's what I get out of it. The album started off very strong with time and distance, madness of men, and Prometheus. Almost starting to think they ran out of time and just threw stuff together for the rest of it. Not to mention the very keyboard like sounding "orchestra" in mountain labyrinth and king rurik. Very noticable it's not "real".

(01-10-2017, 04:56 AM)69RoadRunner Wrote: I don't think Jennifer and Adrenne were "brought back". I think their songs have just been sitting around for years after they were recorded.

If Paul had Georgia and Chloe on them, it would take another 8 years of finessing the songs before they were released.

That is what I thought too but from what I either read or heard in an interview I was under the impression which could have been wrong I admit that they were brought back for those two songs for "the perfect sound" Paul always wants. I agree with you about Georgia and Chloe.